This Time
by LadyKeyes
Summary: "Levy started walking slowly up the road wondering if she would ever catch back up with Jet and Droy... Then again, maybe she wasn't supposed to be catching up with her past. Maybe she was meant to look toward her future. A future she really hoped contained a lot more of a certain name-calling Dragon Slayer and his little back cat." GaLe, Post-GMG, M for language-n-stuff
1. Chapter 1: Morning Encounters

Black. Everything was black.

"Levy!"

Her heart raced at the sound of her name. She reached out her hand from the rubble, unable to remove her lower half from the constricting weight of the stones that had fallen on her. She stretched it out as far as she could from her petite frame. Small rocks tumbled around her and she could see small gaps of light. "Ga-jeel..." she croaked. Then her world began to go dark.

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><p>It was a brisk morning, perfect for a run. If only she did such things. <em>'Maybe I should start.'<em> she mused to herself. Gajeel had been encouraging her to build up her physical strength aside from their bi-weekly training sessions. They had started training together before the Tenrou incident, and apparently it had just become a part of their regular routine. Although, their meetings often depended on their mission status. Gajeel often took tougher, longer missions than the small bluenette and her team.

She sighed a long sigh as she continued on her way through the cobblestone streets of Magnolia. Before long her destination came into view: a small, family-run shop that sold everything from hot breakfasts, to fancy home-furnishings, to the latest thrilling novels. And that was precisely why she had come there. The bookworm picked up a shopping basket as the owners greeted one of their favorite customers.

"Good morning, Levy-chan." said Friza, a lovely old woman with a familiar smile.

"Good morning, Friza-san, can I please have the usual? Oh, but could you add an extra kiwi juice on the side please?"

"You should really not get into the habit of gambling, Miss. McGarden." The comment came from an older gentleman who was leaning on a well-used wooden countertop.

Levy smirked in his direction. "I wouldn't really call it gambling Mr. Thompson. Its a bit more like, well, encouragement not to lose." She laughed as she dove into a quick story regarding her most recent loss to her favorite Exceed. "Lily bet me that I couldn't do a certain number of a certain exercise." she began. "I had been training hard enough that I figured it was possible. However, I am doubly regretting that decision today." The small mage looked down in embarrassment. Her arms and abdomen were still sore and aching.

"_Gomen_, Levy-chan." said the old woman. "If it makes you feel any better, I am also unable to complete 105 perfect push-ups," she finished with a smile.

"Thanks Friza-san, but I don't think..."Levy stopped short of her next statement. "Friza-san," she said darkly, "how did you know about that bet?"

The woman opposite her just smiled, shrugging her shoulders innocently. She then grabbed a nearby broom and began sweeping the floor around her. Levy decided she would be having a word with Pantherlily at their next meeting.

In the meantime, however, there was shopping to do. She began to browse the store for any necessities she could find, placing them neatly in her basket. It didn't take her long to finish off her main list and make her way back to the southern wall which was lined with the latest and greatest of authored masterpieces. She browsed the titles for anything unfamiliar, and finding two new titles, she plunked them in her basket.

"Levy-chan, your order is finished!" the old man called out to her. She detached herself from the book-wall and found her way back up to the front of the store. There, waiting on the counter for her, was what she considered the best part of her days off. A tray holding a slice of fresh, warm bread, two poached eggs, a dish of fresh fruit, and a lively cup of tea awaited her. She slid herself onto the old three-legged stool where she always sat, set her basket on the counter, and after giving thanks she began to engage her meal. "Mmmmmm..." Levy hummed as she sipped at her refreshment.

"I'll go total up your basket for you, Miss. McGarden." Mr. Thompson said.

"Yes, thank you." Levy smiled.

A few minutes into her meal, Levy heard the familiar cacophony that could only belong to her best friend's team.

"Wanna run that by me again Flame-brain?!" Gray yelled.

"What's it to you Ice-Princess?" Natsu retorted.

"_Minna_, can't we wait until after breakfast to start all this?" Lucy said defeatedly.

"I hope they're serving fish today," Happy drooled as he daydreamed. Meanwhile, Erza's mind was already entranced by the strawberry cake she was eyeing in the shop's display window.

As team Natsu entered her favorite store, Levy waved in greeting. " Lu-chan! What brings you here this morning?" The busty blonde pulled up a stool next to her friend and immediately let her head hit the counter-top.

"Gray froze my stove after Natsu set it on fire while attempting to make breakfast and then Erza crushed it trying to break the ice. Which is fine I guess because I didn't really have food in my house to feed this many people anyways because I wasn't expecting A MILLION PEOPLE TO INFILTRATE MY PRIVATE RESIDENCE THIS MORNING!" Her voice continued to rise as she chided each of her "guests" for not respecting a woman's need for space and beauty rest. The rest of her team, however, were too busy shopping, ordering breakfast, or drooling over cake to pay her much mind. Lucy turned to her friend and said dramatically, "Levy-chan, I give up at ever living a normal, healthy life." She laid her head back on the counter as Mr. Thompson took her breakfast order.

Upon entering the premises, both Natsu and Gray had become enthralled with one thing or another so their fighting had, for the moment, ceased. Happy wandered around looking at shiny things, and Erza went to the front counter to purchase her cake. Even though her tranquil breakfast had been interrupted, Levy was happy to see her guild-mates. She finished her meal and paid her tab. Looking at the clock above the entryway she realized that she still had another 15 minutes before Jet and Droy were going to meet up with her. After patting an exhausted Lucy on the back reassuringly, made her way outside with her grocery bags.

"Stop in again soon, Levy-chan!" called Friza.

"Knowing my cooking skills, you will very likely see me again tonight!" Levy jokingly called back to the dear old lady. Feeling full and energized Levy made her way down the busy morning streets of Magnolia. She took in a deep breath of fresh, cool air, and continued on her way.

Just as Levy had expected, Jet and Droy were already at their meeting place when she arrived at park they had often played at together as children.

"Levy those look heavy..." "Levy do want some help with those?..." "I can run those back to your place real quick for you..." The barrage of questions and concerns didn't phase her, in fact she had anticipated them. She probably wouldn't have bought so much stuff if she hadn't. She felt a little guilty using her friends for personal reasons, but they had offered, so she wouldn't turn them down.

"Thanks Jet, if you could please," she said sweetly as he took the bags from her arms and jettisoned up the road to Fairy Hills. He was back in no time at all, and the three friends continued with their typical ritual. Levy stood between the two men, talking animatedly about their latest quest and the new book she had acquired from it. Jet and Droy listened intently as their life-long crush discussed the finer points of runes and ancient languages. They all smiled as they walked up the streets toward the guild hall. Levy reached down to adjust the strap of her sandal mid-stride. Jet and Droy continued on without her, unnoticing, caught up in a conversation between the two of them.

Suddenly a large, black shape ran straight into her, knocking her flat on her bottom.

"Oi, watch what yer doin' Shrimp." Levy looked up with surprise at the red eyes, unruly dark hair, and multiple piercings that defined the Iron Dragon Slayer. Beside him was a small black cat with rounded ears, floating on wings beside his partner. Her attention went directly to the latter of two.

"Pantherlily," she said in a serious tone, "I have a bone to pick with you."

"Me?" The little cat pointed at himself innocently.

"Yes, you and that big mouth of yours are in quite a bit of trouble at the moment. Thank you, Gajeel," she said as the rough Dragon Slayer picked her up by the scruff of her dress and set on back on her feet. He folded his arms over his chest to take an uninterested pose behind her. By this time Jet and Droy had noticed their tiny companion was missing and backtracked to find her lecturing the cat about not telling every soul about their competitions or bets or whatever they may be called. The men stood off to the side as their friend laid into the little creature.

"This reminds me," Droy exclaimed to Jet, "we owe Lily three kiwis each don't we?"

"Yeah, we do. I usually put a lot of faith in Levy and her abilities, but I think I'm learning to avoid the bets in her favor when it comes to the physical stuff." Jet replied. The two men continued to watch Levy scold a now juicebox-toting cat who couldn't care less about his punishment from the script mage. When she had finally finished ranting Lily landed himself on the ground and looked up at Levy (not something she was accustomed to due to her short stature). He asked her forgiveness and, with two fingers crossed behind his back, he promised not to tell another soul when she lost a bet. Gajeel chuckled at his cat's antics.

As Levy looked down into the adorable creature's big brown eyes staring back up at her she couldn't contain herself. She picked the little guy up off the ground and hugging him she cooed over him in forgiveness.

"Tch." he mused. _'Dumb-ass cat's too smart for his own good. Knows how to play the system.' _The little black Exceed winked at his partner as the bluenette continued to cuddle him.

"Hmph." Gajeel snorted. "Alright Lily, let's go," he said snatching the cat from the small woman's arms. "We'll see ya at noon then?" he asked Levy over his shoulder as they departed.

"Huh? Oh, um..." had they really planned on meeting at noon? She could have sworn they said three. "Uh, yeah, sure." she smiled at them.

"Kay." he took his feigned disinterest and continued along the path he had been taking before bowling into Levy. Once they were out of hearing range from the small team, Lily turned to Gajeel.

"I thought we were meeting at three today."

"Changed my mind." the Iron Dragon said.

"Mhm." the Exceed hummed with knowing. Drunken late night conversations had revealed to the cat that there was definitely something more to the Dragon Slayer's decision.

_'__Stupid cat knows too much,'_ Gajeel thought to himself.

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><p><strong>AN: Hello all! Welcome to my first Fairy Tail fanfic. Just in case it gets a little confusing, every chapter will have a flash forward moment. I hope you have fun trying to put the pieces together as we go along!**

****I don't own Fairy Tail nor most of these characters. They are H. Mashima's. I do however, own this story and would really love some feedback.****


	2. Chapter 2: The Run

"Levy!"

Gajeel continued to scream her name, channeling his fury into finding her. He crashed through the rubble desperately trying to catch her scent in the smoke-filled air.

'_Useless.' _His nose couldn't handle the burning smoke. He turned instead to his hearing, perhaps, just maybe, her voice could reach him. He closed his eyes as he focused, and he made out the sounds of small stones shifting in a nearby pile, followed by a faint whisper calling his name...

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><p>The library was where Levy, ate, drank, and slept her passion: books. More than once her obsessive consumption of the written word had caused loving friends to pry her from the place and force her to eat and sleep. She could live in a library. It was calm and quiet. Quite unlike the guild she called home. Libraries were filled with amazing adventures, tricky mysteries, interesting people, and ancient languages that begged to be reabsorbed into the mind of a curious little bookworm.<p>

This was not, however, the library. This was a random field, in some random clearing, in some random woods outside of Magnolia where Gajeel like to train. This was the Iron Dragon's turf and the sight of broken trees and earth lumpy with abuse was a good reminder of that. As she approached the training grounds, Levy could hear the clash of metal on metal as Gajeel and Pantherlily sparred for fun. There was laughter mixed in with the occasional insult, and _Ooomphs _and _Aghs from hits that made their mark._

"Gihi!" chuckled Gajeel and he held his hand-made-into-sword against the now large and powerful looking cat. The match had been decided. Taking his defeat with dignity, Lily transformed back into the smaller version of himself. The two friends each brought their forearm to the other's, creating an X shape that they considered their "secret handshake."

Levy was now in full view of the duo, her bag slung across her chest, athletic clothes hanging somewhat loosely from her petite frame. She had pulled her unruly hair back in a ponytail and added a tight headband to keep as much of it out of her face as possible.

"Com'mon Shorty!" called Gajeel gruffly. "You're missin' the warm up!"

"But we still have," the script mage looked down at her old leather watch, "we still have 17 minutes before we're supposed to meet."

"So?" he replied curtly. "Yer already here aren't ya? Don't waste time doin' nothin' when you can be doin' somethin'."

"Perhaps you could run a few laps around the clearing." suggested Lily.

"Ehhh..." Levy did not look impressed by the thought. After all, running just wasn't her thing.

"Cat's got a good point." the Dragon Slayer shot. "You could use some endurance training. Runnin' might help."

Now, there was a perfectly good explanation as to why Levy did not like to run. Well, two actually. One, Levy was not much of the athletic type. She was agile and flexible enough, and she was toned and fit thanks to daily yoga and the occasional Pilates sessions. Still, she didn't care the physical exertion. All of that energy she used up doing things like _running _was energy she could be putting to use into reading, or studying, or translating. Secondly, Levy looked like an idiot when she exercised. Even Jet had once told her she looked like a dying tomato after one of her pilates sessions at Lucy's house. She didn't like looking dumb, or feeling out of her element, but Lily and Gajeel continued to coerce her into running for at least the next 15 minutes.

"Fine," said Levy. Even though they had been training together for over a year, running had never been a big part of their routine. It was usually Levy trying out new spells and defensive maneuvers while Gajeel tried (and always succeeded) to take her down. "Just, er, please don't watch."

"Huh?" Gajeel raised a pierced brow inquisitively.

She sighed and narrowed her hazel eyes in concentration. Hadn't she read about this before? Something about breathing and the correct stance and eyes on the prize or some such detail? Gathering all her knowledge on the sport, Levy took off at a moderate jog. Her plan was to increase her speed gradually. She mentally noted her form and breathing, comparing it to what she had seen and read. _'Looks like I'm doing alright!'_ Levy thought to herself.

Gajeel and Lily on the other hand, were thinking something completely different.

"So...slow..." said Lily.

"She kinda...reminds me...of a...gazelle? That...got itself stuck..."

"In mud." the cat agreed.

They tried to suppress their laughter. Failing to do so as Levy's face began to turn a shade of red that rivaled Erza's scarlet hair, the Dragon Slayer and his cat folded themselves in half and began to laugh. When they looked up again her cheeks were puffed out and her eyes were so concentrated on the task at hand that they fell into themselves with laughter yet again.

Thankfully Levy was too focused on her running to notice that the two males were making merry at her expense. _'I think I can, I think I can...' _she chanted her cadence silently. It was the same cadence one of her childhood heroes had used. She had felt a connection between herself and the tiny train who wanted to do big things. That bond continued as Levy continued to be small and self admittedly weak. Spurred on by the thoughts of her childhood role model, Levy picked up the pace a little. She glanced down at her watch again - only three minutes to go.

'_I think I can, I think I can, I think...' _

The glance down at her watch had momentarily broken Levy's focus from her cadence, and she caught wind of a sound that she knew could only have originated from a single source.

"Gihihi! Ahaha!"

And there they were- two fighting machines hunched over on the grassy field, tears streaking down their faces as they held their sides.

"Ghihihihi..." the laughter continued. Levy stopped in her tracks as the larger of the two pointed in her general direction and made a strange face, much to the enjoyment of the other.

'_I think...someone is making fun of me.'_

"Just what is so funny you two?" the young woman asked as she approached the snickering friends. She was slightly out of breath from the last 12 minutes.

"Y-you...gihihi...you run like a...gihihi..." Gajeel managed as he slapped his knee and continued. "_You_ run like a wingless goose with a tomato for a face..."

Really? A tomato? Wasn't there anything else on this planet people could compare her face to? Levy's eyes became dark and her fists clenched as she addressed the issue at hand.

"I told you not to watch."

"Sorry Shortstuff, but it was kinda hard ta miss!" the Dragon Slayer snorted, finally beginning to calm down again. As he looked at her standing in her little angry pose, hands fisted at her side, chin down, eyes glaring up at him, he couldn't help but think about how cute she was. Her attempts at intimidation were noble, but completely fruitless. He flashed her a quick smirk before ruffling her hair and deciding it was time to begin their practice.

"Alright Shrimp, let's get started with some training since yer all warmed up n'all." He chuckled as he remembered what he had just seen.

"Fine. What's on the schedule for today?" the bluenette asked as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. She was pretty anxious to make up for her terrible looking warm up by showing those two rude jerks that her appearance could be deceiving.

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><p><strong>AN: Does anyone else ever feel like they might have a connection with Thomas the Train? Anyone? No? Just me? Okay.**

****I don't own Fairy Tail nor most of these characters. They are H. Mashima's. I do however, own this story and would really love some feedback.****


	3. Chapter 3: Victory

**A/N Hey everyone! I realize that I'm posting two chapters in one day, but hey, when you're bed ridden with the flu, what better way to spend your day than typing up some fan fiction right? R&R if you please, and enjoy!**

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><p>Gajeel ran in the direction of the sounds he had heard. The rocks shifted again and from the corner of his eye Gajeel saw the movement. He hurtled toward the pile of rubble and began flinging the debris away. The dust kicked up in protest as the mighty Dragon Slayer made his way down to the whisper of his name...<p>

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><p>Gajeel and Lily were both aware of the script mage's abilities. First, she was small and flexible. This made her a harder to hit target. Second, she was smart. All of that reading did her some good after all, she was excellent at concocting a plan on the spot. Third, she had limited magical power and a restricted number of useable spells. Although she was always trying to learn something new, Levy had only managed to master between 15 and 20 spells that were useful in combat. And of those spells, she could typically only manage to fire off five before she became exhausted in a showdown. But, she had heart, and a lot of it. She was a Fairy Tail mage after all! She never ever gave up in a fight, and Gajeel knew that last bit from experience. He cringed at the thought.<p>

Pushing the sour memory from his mind, Gajeel laid his focus on the girl who claimed him as friend, as nakama. She looked back at him as she took her magic pen from her satchel pocket. Both opponents stood there for a moment, feeling the other out. Who would make the first move?

Surprisingly, it was Levy who uncharacteristically lunged forward and offered the first attack.

"Solid Script: ICE!" Levy shouted as she the word in the air and aimed for the Dragon Slayer's feet. Gajeel easily broke through the ice and sent his attack her way.

"Iron Dragon Spear: Demon Logs!" Levy ducked just in time to watch the weapons wiz over her head and to spot the second round heading her way.

"Solid Script: GUARD!" she cried as she tried to stop the attack. But the Iron Dragon Slayer was already one step ahead. Just as the second set of his demon logs were blocked by Levy's shield, he sent his arm into the ground "Iron Dragon's Club!"

The club burst from the ground in front of the unsuspecting little mage, sending her flying several yards back. Gajeel's attack had hit her right arm, her dominant hand. It was hurt, enough to make it painful when she attempted to use her arm. She could tell he had held back, but it was still going to leave a nasty mark.

"Solid Script: Heal!" she said as she wrote the glowing blue word on her injured arm. Levy was rather proud of that spell. She had modeled it after Wendy's healing abilities, and though it was only useful for alleviating minor aches and pains, that was all she needed.

"Three down, two to go." Gajeel said under his breath as he smirked. He could practically taste the inevitable victory that was coming his way. Still grinning, Gajeel rushed at Levy who was replacing that crazy pen of hers back into her dominant hand. As he rushed her she rolled to the ground, throwing her hands down first, dodging the larger figure that was coming her way.

Even with his accelerated sense of hearing, Gajeel barely heard her whisper the word, "Hole." as her hands touched the earth in front of him. Before he knew what was happening a large pit opened up in front of him and he fell the twelve foot distance to the bottom. Levy did her own smirking then, as she quickly leaned over the side of the gaping hole and cast her final spell, "Solid Script: Guard!" around Gajeel's entire person.

He looked at the barrier that covered the space he inhabited, and Levy caught the slightest look of surprise flit across his face. Gajeel attempted to break the barrier several times, but the magic was holding strong.

"Well, Shrimp. Looks like ya got me." Gajeel muttered coarsely. He was a sore loser to be sure, but the bright smile that lit up Levy's face rivaled that of a thousand suns, and he was willing to admit defeat that many times over if it meant he could see that smile even just one more time. 'The hell's wrong with me?' Gajeel shook his head as he thought to himself. 'I gotta make her stop readin' that poetry and shit to Lily, it's leakin' into my brain.'

"Oi, Short stack! Ya gonna let me out or what?" he yelled. Levy complied to his request and undid her final spell. No sooner was Gajeel free of Levy's traps than he lunged at her and tackled the tiny woman to the ground.

"Gihi, I'll be taking Round Two's victory today." he chuckled in triumph as she looked up at him, still a little shocked. He had her arms pinned above her head and the rest of her was swallowed up by his larger, sturdier frame. His hold was firm, but gentle enough so as not to cause her any more harm than necessary.

She couldn't help but admire what years of training and battle had done to his body. Thick muscles ran along every inch of his visible skin, which was a considerable amount since he preferred to train without his shirt on. His hands were calloused and hard, a testament to the strength he held in such high regard. Levy knew that their age difference was only a few years, and she wondered if she hadn't been taken in by Fairy Tail when she was young if she would have turned out something like Gajeel. Strong in every sense of the word. She doubted it. Not with her petite frame and overall dislike of physical exercise. Her strengths had always been based on her intellect, and she was going to show this thick-headed, crazy hot _(did she seriously just think that?)_, giant moose of a man just how strong she could be.

Gajeel looked down at his captured prey as she smiled sweetly up at him. She knew he hated to lose, but then again, she wasn't so fond of it herself.

"Solid Script: Storm." she said innocently.

Gajeel flinched and looked confused. 'She already cast five spells, she's going for a sixth?!'

He didn't have much time to ponder her actions as lightning struck his iron frame and water descended rapidly onto his head. This time it was Gajeel on his back, still smoking slightly from the blow. Levy walked up to him gently and bent over to look at his face.

"Best two out of three, I win today." she said with a cheeky smile, then collapsed to her knees beside her opponent.

Lily just stood there, eyes closed, paws covering his rounded ears. His mouth was clamped shut to keep the small whimper he held from escaping. When he realized that the thunder was over he took a good long look at his friends as they lay in the grass. Levy, he noticed, was out cold. Storm was no small spell for her to cast. Gajeel however, though looking singed and a bit roughed-up, was laying on his side looking at the unconscious mage beside him.

She had never bested him in a sparring match before. He smiled proudly at her, knowing she wouldn't see it. '_Looks like training is payin' off after all.'_ he thought as he absently brushed a stray lock of hair from her face. It was still a beautiful, sunny day. Her hair looked like a darker shade of the sky and it shone like the ocean in the sun's rays. Her slender cheeks were still red with exertion and her breathing was becoming steady again. He laid there admiring her features for a few moments. "Mavis she's beautiful." Gajeel said to himself.

"Ahem." Pantherlily's polite cough made Gajeel realise that just because the Shrimp couldn't see or hear him at the moment, didn't mean the cat couldn't.

"Damn fucking shit-head of lousy fucking excuse for a...not a word from you! Do you fucking hear me? Not a single word!" Gajeel blushed furiously as he ran after his Exceed.

Lily sprouted his wings and flew up out of his partner's reach. "No promises lover-boy," the cat snickered as he dodged the oncoming attack.

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><p><strong>AN again: Yes, I'm using Mavis' name in place of the typical "god." I think it is just too cute and too perfect in this little world of theirs not to.**

****I don't own Fairy Tail nor most of these characters. They are H. Mashima's. I do however, own this story and would really love some feedback.****


	4. Chapter 4: The Mission

A hand reached out and clasped the tiny mage's own, but she had already fallen unconscious. The larger mage listened carefully to be sure that she was still breathing. Small but even breaths were making their way in and out of the script mage's badly. The other figure released her hand and smiled as he began to remove the rubble around her.

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><p>Levy awoke to the sun shining gently on her face and a light breeze blowing her unruly mop of blue hair across her cheek. The grass around her likewise shifted in whatever direction the demanding gust forced it to. Squinting, she lifted her left hand to shield her sleepy unaccustomed eyes from the bright rays. She looked around and groggily wondered where she was. The familiar field reminded her of where she was, and as her eyes fell upon her most recent handiwork a smile spread over her face. She had beaten Gajeel!<p>

Victory was still in her smile when a looming shadow eclipsed the light that had been shining down on her face.

"Mornin' Shorty." Gajeel huffed as he towered above her prone form. In his right hand was an upside down Lily, being held by tail, little arms crossed and what was undoubtedly a mischievous grin on his face. Nothing seemed especially out of place to Levy, who had witnessed a similar scene before, so she stretched her sun warmed body and asked, "How long was I out?"

"Long enough..." chuckled Lily. That comment earned the little Exceed a stellar glare from the Dragon Slayer. He was treading on thin ice, and enjoying every minute of it.

"We should probably head back to the guild." Levy said as she glanced down at her watch. "Yikes, it's already 3:00! I was hoping to get back in time to snatch up a decent job before everyone else got to them. Well, we should still be able to beat the dinner rush." Then she added, "Besides that, I've got a victory to gloat about!"

"Ymnophstgapt..." Gajeel muttered under his breath as he stuck his free hand into his pocket and began walking out of the clearing. Of course she'd want to tell the whole damn guild about her one lucky little win. He did not look forward to the jeers he was bound to get from Salamander, the Stripper, and likely the entire rest of the guild. And there was Mirajane, who was already too on to him as it was. Damn barkeep was just as bad as the damn cat.

Levy picked herself up, blissfully unaware of the Dragon Slayer's thoughts. She was pleasantly surprised at her lack of dizziness or nausea which usually plagued her after using too much magic. Her training and expansion of her second origin was really starting to pay off. It had taken her twice as long as anyone else, but she was showing promising results and refused to give up.

Brushing the dirt and grass from her clothes she adjusted her bag and headed off to catch up with the now shirted man she had bested today in combat, Exceed still in hand. Catching up to them, they walked off toward their guild, Levy chatting animatedly and Gajeel pretending not to care. Lily swung back and forth between the two of them, oddly content in his current setting.

Eventually they reentered the city of Magnolia and as they came upon the road that lead to their destination- that boisterous building that stood so tall and proud as a symbol of their power, a symbol of their _nakama_- Levy heard her name being called excitedly.

"LEEEEEEEEEEEEVVYYYYYY-chaaaaaaaaaaaannnnn!" Jet yelled as he raced down to meet her. He was there in a flash, leaving Droy to push his overweight body to try and catch up with the speed mage. "Check this out! Droy and I are going on a mission that Mira saved specifically for us!" The proud smile on Jet's face denied his age, causing him to look more like an excited teenager than his actual twenty-six years.

"Really? Oh, let me see!" Levy held out her hand like a doting mother and received the job flyer. It was for a three-day job on a farm not too far from Magnolia.

"Just the two of you, huh?" Levy asked with a hint of pride that sounded once again, rather motherly. Gajeel smiled inwardly at just how whipped Levy's lapdogs appeared. He watched as Jet's face fell with the implication of her words.

"Oh, well, um, I mean, you could come too...I mean, if you wanted."

"Y-yeah," panted Droy, who had finally caught up to the group at the end of the road. "It...*_pant*pant_*...might be...*_wheeze_*...fun..."

"Hmmm," Levy pondered as she looked over the flyer. "I don't know, this isn't really as up my alley as it is your's. Too much dirt, not enough books." She smiled as she handed the flyer back to Jet. The job was a request to help catch whoever or whatever was stealing some poor farmer's vegetables, and then helping to replant said crops. The job really was well suited for team Shadow Gear's male members. "No, I think I'll inquire about a nice relaxing translation or tutoring job instead," she decided.

"You sure?" Droy asked.

"Yeah, I'm positive. You guys have a good time, and bring me back a souvenir okay?" she said as she clasped her hands behind her back.

"Alright," "If you say so," Jet and Droy's replies overlapped.

Levy waved at her teammates as they turned to walk down the road that lead to the men's shared apartment. "Have fun! Be safe!" she called.

"You too!" came the unison reply.

Levy stood there, looking after her friends. Gajeel had released Lily's tail and stood with her in the silence. He mentally noted the strange look on the girl's face. It was like worry mixed with pride and regret. A strange mixture of happy and sad.

"It's kind of strange," she broke the silence to speak her thoughts. "I guess I'm still not accustomed to becoming a second thought."

Gajeel looked down at the little mage. "Huh?"

Blushing as she realized that she had actually spoken her thoughts out loud, and to _Gajeel_ of all people, she continued, "B-before Tenrou they wouldn't so much as look at a job if I wasn't there, let alone accept one where they thought I might not be needed." Levy sighed. "I guess I'm just being a little selfish here," she admitted. "It's awful of me to think those things since my plan on coming back to the guild today was in hopes of finding a solo mission."

She looked up at the Dragon Slayer who was eyeing her curiously. She was strangely comfortable with telling him what she was thinking, even if it was a tad bit embarrassing. She looked away, tilted her head to the side and chuckled a little as she finished her thoughts. "Well, it looks like I haven't got a choice in the matter now."

In the seven years of her absence Jet and Droy had continued to be team Shadow Gear. They took missions and jobs and dealt with the sudden loss of their female counterpart together. They had a bond and shared experiences that Levy would never know. It was somewhat painful, knowing that the men she loved like family and who had been the closest to her her entire life weren't as close to her anymore. But, despite all of those things Levy knew the three of them would always be team Shadow Gear, and that thought gave her some comfort. Jet and Droy hadn't tried to fill her vacancy while she was gone, and she knew it was because she was just as irreplaceable to them as they were to her- time gap or no time gap, distance or no distance, change or no change.

"Oye, Shortstuff," Gajeel said as he pointed a thumb in the direction of the guild. "We're headin' up."

Levy turned from the direction her old friends had gone and faced the road where her new ones stood. Gajeel and Lily walked side by side, the former with hands in his pockets and the latter with a tail twitching contentedly. They walked away in silence. Levy noticed the stark contrast the between the two sets of men. Gajeel's dark and brooding disposition opposed to Jet's bright and excitable nature. Lily's calm, cool, and mischievous air versus Droy's nervous courage. Day and night those four. But each of them, she realized, had a very special place in her life.

Levy started walking slowly up the road wondering if she would ever catch up with Jet and Droy.

"Let's go Pipsqueak! I ain't gonna let all the good jobs get taken 'cause yer standin' there in a stupor!"

Then again, maybe she wasn't supposed to be catching up with her past. Maybe she was meant to look toward her future. A future she really hoped contained a lot more of a certain name-calling Dragon Slayer and his little back cat.

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><p><strong>AN: Awwwwww! The future is looking so bright! Or is it? Dun-Dun-Dun...**

**As usual, I don't own Fairy Tail nor most of these characters. They are H. Mashima's. I do however, own this story and would really love some feedback.**


	5. Chapter 5: Mira's Meddling

**A/N:** Ha! Chapter five is here! I struggled through this one bit, but I think it turned out alright. The flu I battled last week has left me in a flurry of late assignments and with a desperate need to catch up on grading (my amazing track record as a TA is on the line!), so I'm not sure when I'll be posting next. (Don't worry, the story is practically written already I just need to type it...). I posted a GaLe one-shot last week entitled Extricate, you should check it out if you get the chance, and write me some reviews people!

I don't own Fairy Tail - Mr. Mashima gets the glory for that. Please review.

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><p>A hand reached out for his from the rubble and Gajeel grabbed it, pulling it and the body it was connected to gently from the mound of stones. He looked down in surprise. The blue hair he had anticipated coming into view was not blue at all. Instead, a messy mop of rosy pink slowly eased its way up from the ground...<p>

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><p>"Welcome back Levy! How was practice?" Mirajane called from the bar to the small bluenette as she entered through the guild's main door.<p>

"It was great! I learned a lot today." Levy returned with a smile. Gajeel looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. Levy ignored his look as she continued to smile and made her way to the bar where Mira had set out a fresh glass of strawberry lemonade.

"You look like you worked pretty hard today," the take-over mage said, noting Levy's (still) reddened cheeks, grass infused hair, and the sizable bruise that had formed on her right arm.

"Yeah, they started me out with some endurance training this time. It was quite the work out!" she laughed as she glanced over at Gajeel.

In that brief look Gajeel understood what game she was playing. Her silence for his. She wouldn't gloat about her victory if he wouldn't poke fun at her earlier exhibition. Lily noticed the same look, and nodded his head slightly in secretive agreement. Gajeel smirked his. He couldn't help but think he was getting the better end of this deal.

Satisfied with their agreements, Levy sipped down the last of her lemonade and, after thanking Mira for the treat, announced that she was heading to the locker room to freshen up. She hopped down from her stool as the barkeep picked up her now empty glass.

As soon as Levy was out of sight Gajeel felt a shiver make its way down his spine. He turned to see the white-haired barkeep grinning at him like the Cheshire cat. What in Mavis' name was that frilly little gossip up to? The Dragon Slayer pretended to ignore the disturbing feeling that had begun to bubble up in his stomach as he made his way to his usual table.

The table was somewhat secluded, sitting in a corner in the far back wall of the massive guild hall. It had a good view of the space, but it was far enough out of the way that people generally didn't venture there. Gajeel settled into his booth, propping his feet up on the remainder of the bench while his back rested against the wall. Before he could so much as take a relaxing deep breath, Mirajane was there with his usual tankard and a strange piece of paper. He accepted the drink but eyed the document cautiously.

"Gajeel-kun," Mira said happily, "I do believe I have found the perfect job for you!" She handed him the paper as he took a sip from his mug. As he looked the paper over he raised his eyes to regard the suspicious person smiling gleefully over his table.

'_Why the hell does she look so damned well pleased with herself?' _Gajeel wondered to himself. But as he read through the job description he began to understand why.

_**Looking for small group of diverse mages to aid in exploration of ancient mountain caves. Preferred are mages capable of guarding sites and providing muscle where necessary. Also, rune/script mages would be of vital assistance. Reward: 50,000 jewels and invaluable life experiences.**_

"Sounds more like a Raijinshu job to me." He said as he handed the paper back.

"Oh, they left yesterday for another job in the absolute opposite direction, so I figured you could handle this one. I'm sure it won't be too difficult for you to track down a few additional members to your team." She winked as she walked away, leaving the paper in Gajeel's hand. As Mira practically skipped her way back to the bar, Gajeel realized that he knew that she knew what the cat knew- and he wasn't pleased.

Levy looked at her appearance in the mirror that graced Fairy Tail's somewhat flamboyant woman's locker room. She didn't look quite as bad as she thought she might. An exception was made to the bruise on her upper right arm. It was much bigger, blacker, and bluer than she had imagined.

"Second origin or not, my body still bruises as easily as ever." Levy pouted as she traced the outline of the ugly mark. Sighing, she began to remove her athletic clothes. She winced as the movement caused her arm to ache; it would seem her spell was wearing off now. Using her good arm, Levy gently lifted the corner of her shirt and gently pulled up and over, the right sleeve coming off last. Glancing down at the skin again she resolved to as Wendy for a bit of healing.

Levy walked over to the luxurious sinks and splashed a bit of cool, refreshing water on her face. She patted herself down with a fluffy towel that was laying ready nearby. She picked the grass from her unruly blue locks and wiped the grass stains from her knees, and then her hands. As she scrubbed at her hands Levy was reminded once again of her earlier victory. The momentary look of shock on Gajeel's face as he began his descent into her freshly made hole made her smile. Remembering that she had beaten the fearsome Kurogane in combat caused her to stand a little straighter and hold her chin up a little higher.

With her renewed confidence Levy began to make her way back into the main hall. But just as she reached the door she realized something wasn't quite right. Looking down she quickly discovered just what that was.

She had yet to replace the athletic clothes she had previously removed.

Cheeks turning red from embarrassment, Levy glanced around and prayed that no one else had been around to see her near blunder. A quick scan of the room confirmed that she was indeed alone. _'I guess I should have thought of that before I started talking to myself in a public place…'_ she thought. After carefully changing into her fresh clothes Levy ventured out the door into the restless din of her home.

As she reentered the boisterous room Levy made a quick turn to the table that was typically occupied by her two beloved goofballs. As she had expected it sat empty, but the lonely looking table seemed to invite her to come and keep it company. As she came to the familiar table its water stains and burn marks and visible cracks greeted her like an old friend. Levy removed her bag and sat it in the chair next to the one she planned on occupying for the next few hours. It was nearly four now, and Friza usually had a hearty pot of soup ready by six. Just thinking about a homemade meal caused Levy's stomach to growl with anticipation.

Levy began to sit down just as Gajeel's brooding form appeared to cast a shadow on Shadow Gear's unofficial-official table of choice.

"Yo, Shortstack."

"Yes, Gajeel?" Levy answered curiously. She craned her neck up to try and look him in the eye as he responded. He seemed irritated, which wasn't so out of the ordinary, but he also seemed…apprehensive maybe? No, she had to be reading that wrong. Whatever it could be it was an aura uncommon to the Dragon Slayer. He looked away from her as he muttered something about Mira giving him a job and shoved a piece of parchment in her face.

He had crinkled the paper in his fist as he walked over to the table, making it hard to read. Taking the post from his hand, Levy quietly reviewed the request.

"This sounds like the perfect job for the Raijinshu." She remarked, handing the paper back to Gajeel.

"Oi, that's exactly what I said!" he exclaimed in return.

"Unfortunately," Mira's chipper voice cut in, "the Raijinshu took another mission in the exact opposite direction of this one, so I figured Gajeel and Lily could collect a team and head out there instead! They need the help as soon as possible." She had materialized from seemingly nowhere, her head appearing from behind Gajeel's arm. Her sudden entrance had caught both the Dragon Slayer and the script mage off guard.

"Oh, okay then." Levy said, still slightly confused about where Mira had come from and why Gajeel was showing her his latest job request. Usually all he would offer her was a quick explanation that he and Lily were heading out on job, and then it was only so that she knew there would be no training until they returned. But this time he had shown her the entire job post. Why?

"So who do have planned for your team?" she asked.

Gajeel just looked at her as if she had said something especially dumb. Seriously? What would it take to get a point across to this woman? She was supposed to be brilliant right? Mavis this was irritating!

Gajeel leaned down to Levy's level and pointed to certain phrase in the flyer.

"Script. Mage." He emphasized. "That's you Shorty."

"Me?" she asked pointing to herself. "Me?!"

"You see any other damn script mages 'round here?" he asked as he gestured around the large room.

"Oh, well, no, I guess not."

"I know damned well you ain't got anythin' else goin' on right now. You commin' or what?" he glared at the script mage, daring her to say no.

Levy raised an eyebrow at the Iron Dragon's unusual behavior. He was actually inviting her to join him on what was most definitely going to be an incredibly boring job for him and Lily.

"I don't…" Levy's answer was cut short as she looked at Mira's face. The barkeep's aura was darkening, despite her smile. And whereas Gajeel's look had dared her to say no, Mira's demanded she say yes.

"I don't think that will be a problem." Levy finished quickly. Suddenly, everything was sunshine and rainbows again for Mira, who promptly scurried off to answer a request from a nearby table.

"Fine. We need to discuss travel plans, supply lists, compensations…" _Guuuurgggle._ Gajeel stopped midsentence to look down at the little mage next to him. Levy winced at the loudness of her hungry tummy.

"Do you think we could discuss those things over dinner?" she asked smiling as she rubbed her arm in an embarrassed gesture.

"Uuuuh, sure." He replied.

"Great! I'll meet you at Thompson's convenience on Maple St. around 5:30?" she suggested. _Guurggle. Gurgggle. Grummmble._

"Are you sure yer gonna last that long?" Gajeel joked, "From the sounds of things yer stomach's gonna eat ya alive."

Levy puffed her cheeks out in a comical pout. "I'll survive, thanks." She deadpanned. "I have a meeting with Wendy-chan shortly, but it shouldn't take long."

Gajeel's eyes flickered to Levy's right arm, where her left hand had remained to cover up the massive bruise he had left. He immediately looked down and off to the side mumbling a quick, "See ya later then," as he turned to collect his exceed.

He honestly hadn't thought it would bruise that bad. It made him feel – guilty, almost – that he wasn't strong enough to hold back a little more for her sake. But, at the same time, he thought back to what she had said to him when they had first started regular training sessions together. _"I-I bruise easily, but, p-please don't let that s-stop you. I can take it. I have to or I'll never get stronger! You promised to make me big, right? Don't hold back then!"_ she had exclaimed with the classic Fairy Tail conviction backing her every word. Gajeel grabbed his cat from the bar where he had been enjoying the most recent gossip, courtesy of Cana and Mirajane, and headed for the door.

'_If only you knew just how big you already are,' _the Iron Dragon Slayer thought to himself as he heard her gentle laughter behind him. _'Now where the hell is Maple Street?'_


	6. Bonus Chapter 55: Maple Street

**A/N:** Hello all! Here's a little bonus chapter for all the Gajeel x Pantherlily BrOTP people out there. Beta-read by the one and only **Glitter Spires**! I don't own Fairy Tail. Still.

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><p>Gajeel said nothing as he grabbed Pantherlily from the bar counter and headed out the door. He looked right, then left, then right again, and headed left; the small exceed still clenched by the scruff of his neck.<p>

Finding this position against his liking, Lily transformed into his battle mode with a puff and a smirk. Lily landed with his legs crossed and arms folded, looking very much like a large child who refuses to be moved. Gajeel's arm gave way to the weight in his hand as it magically became much heavier. He stopped, looking surprised for a fraction of a second, then turned to face his partner.

"Dammit Lil! What was that for?"

"I have legs you know. Four of them really. Oh, and wings. I am perfectly capable of transporting myself to our destination."

"So fuckin' tell me! Don't try and rip my damn arm off!" the Iron Dragon Slayer's angry yell sounded distinctly whiny.

"You looked rather deep in thought, This seemed easier than trying to rouse the rusty cogs in your brain."

"..." The Dragon Slayer began turning purple with anger, but released it as his closest friend looked up at him from the ground. Damn, why couldn't he stay angry at this stupid cat? "I have a bone to pick with you."

"Picking up lines from Levy now, are we? They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery."

"Shut up. This isn't about the midget."

"Oh? What is it about then?" Lily asked as he transformed back into his smaller, cuter form.

"The hell've you been tellin' that Demon barkeep?"

"Who?"

"The frilly-Demon-gossip-barkeep-girl you're always chattin' up!"

"Oh, you must mean Cana."

"How in the nine circles of Zeref's hell did you get the Drunkard out of "fuckin' frilly Demon gossip barkeep"? I used every word I know about her to describe her! Does the Drunk even work there?"

"Gihi," Lily let out a small teasing chuckle. Messing with Gajeel was irresistible.

"I'm talkin' about the other one! The scary one with the all-knowing aura!" Gajeel threw his hands out sporadically to illustrate his point.

"Did the great Kurogane just admit to being afraid of the Demon Mirajane?" Lily asked with a raised eyebrow.

_Fuck_. "No! She just has this way...of being..." What was that word the Shrimp had used? "Dis-con-tipulating? Dis-con-shirtating?"

"Disconcerting?"

"Yeah. That one."

"She just knows what she wants, and will do what she can to make it happen."

"The hell 's that mean Lil?" Gajeel asked as he looked down at his companion.

The Exceed simply smiled up at him.

"..." The Iron Dragon slammed his foot on the ground. "Well? Lil?"

"...I do not pretend to know what happens in the mind of a lady, as I for one, am not a lady."

"For the love of Mavis, Lily! Just stop tellin' the whole damn world about my..."

"So, about this mission we're going on?" Lily changed the subject abruptly with his matter-of-fact attitude.

"How did you know about the mission?" asked Gajeel, who had definitely NOT told his partner about the job yet.

"Mira."

"..."

"We're taking Levy right?"

"..." Gajeel turned on his heel and began storming away.

"Maple street is that way." Lily called as he flew into the air, a small black paw pointing the way.

"Damn you cat!" screamed Gajeel as he chased Lily down Maple Street, finally catching the flying thing in front of a sign that read: Thompson's Convenience: Goods and Goodies.

"Oh, look, Gihi. We're here." Pantherlily said with his mischievous grin.

"You've been spending too much time with that Demon. Evil 's rubbed off on ya." Gajeel said with an unsure look as he carefully released the Exceed's neck, afraid the meddling might seep into his own bloodstream.


	7. Chapter 6: Plans

**A/N: Thank you to those of you who have subscribed! I've noticed several fellow Tumblrs have found me out, specifically ****Glitter Spires,**** who has been most wonderful in offering to help beta-read **_**This Time**_** for me! **(_And who pretty much wrote the first half of this chapter.)_** You would still be sitting there without this update if it weren't for her so show some love.**

**Fairy Tail is not mine, it's Mashima's. This plot is not Mashima's, it's mine. Please R&R.**

The larger mage stooped down to carry the small bluenette out of the rubble. He gently moved her hair from the cuts that ran along her forehead and cheek.

"Put. Her. Down." came a voice from behind.

The man carrying Levy turned and smiled maniacally, and for a brief moment madness flashed across his features. But when he spoke it was with a calm and matter of fact tone.

"I am simply taking what my victory has earned me." he replied as he began to walk off. "Farewell, Salamander..."

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><p>Gajeel entered the establishment labeled <em>Thompson's Convenience<em>. As he strolled inside he discovered that this shop was more than just a place to dine. It had, well, everything. He looked around the open space to try and find a place to reserve for the meeting he had agreed to. A friendly older woman whose nametag read FRIZA greeted him as he took a few more steps inside.

"Hello, young man. What can I do for you today?" Friza questioned with her motherly smile.

"Uh, table for three I suppose."

"Marvelous, I was just putting the finishing touches on tonight's special." Friza said as she lead the Dragon Slayer into a small dining room attached to the establishment. The only other person in the place was an elderly man who was standing behind the long wooden counter.

"_The quiet is nice."_ he thought to himself. _"Must be why the Shrimp chose here, we might actually get something accomplished without a bar fight."_

"Table for three you said? When will your company be joining you?"

"Well, I got one of 'em right here," Gajeel brought his arm up to show the woman that Pantherlily was once again caught in the Iron Dragon's grasp, by the tail, upside down. The exceed let out a small sigh but otherwise seemed content with his predicament. "The other should be 'round shortly." He snickered slightly and muttered something about a short joke.

"Can I start you out with a drink then?"

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><p>Levy sat as still as she could while the small girl worked over her arm. She could already see the bruise decreasing in color and size. "Thanks for this, Wendy-chan. I really appreciate it."<p>

"It is really no problem," Wendy replied. "But you should really be more careful! How did you get this bruise anyways?"

"Oh, you know me," Levy laughed. She was reluctant to put the blame for her injury on the man who had been sparring with her earlier that day. If word got out that he had hurt her again, even accidentally, that could mean trouble for them both. She quickly changed the subject to avoid further discussion on the subject. "So, I'm going on a mission this week."

"Really? Where to? What will you be doing?" Wendy's curiosity was immediately raised.

"Lily and Gajeel and I will be heading up into the lower mountains on the eastern border of Fiore to help a group of archeologists."

"Jet and Droy aren't going?" Wendy asked, surprise flittering across her face.

"No, they're on another job already." Levy's face fell slightly, if only for a moment, at the thought of her closest friends being away without her.

"Oh, okay. How did you get the job with Gajeel?"

"Mirajane thought we would make a good team since the flyer asked for a script or rune mage as well as some strong mages to guard the dig.

"Ooh. Mira-san set it up?" the little girl grinned at the thought of the ruthless matchmaker. "Okay, I'm done!" Wendy smiled up at Levy, proud of her accomplishment in aiding her guildmate.

"Awesome, thanks again Wendy-chan! It looks so much better."

"Hey, um," Wendy's manner quickly turned bashful, "if you would like, I could come to the train station and help Gajeel with the motion sickness problem. Troia probably won't last that long, but it will help for a while at least."

"I think that is a great idea! As long as you don't mind. I can let you know when we'll be leaving and you can meet us at the the train station."

"Okay!" Wendy chirped, happy to be of use.

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><p>Gajeel could smell her before he saw her. His heightened senses picking up the familiar scent of paper, ink, and her lemon-scented shampoo. Uniquely her. Though he could also smell the soft, open sky scent of the young Sky Dragon that lingered on her person.<p>

Friza greeted the bluenette with a smile and a warm hello. Levy raised her hand in greeting and looked around for the dark haired man with a hopeful expression. Finally spotting the Dragon Slayer and his usual companion, Levy made her way over to the table where they sat.

"Sorry guys, that took a while longer than I had thought." Levy apologized before taking the empty seat across from Gajeel.

"I was beginning to think yer stomach had devoured ya and ya weren't showin' up at all." Gajeel teased with his signature smirk.

As Levy formulated her comeback, Friza walked over to the table. "Levy-chan, you should have told me about your date tonight with this dashing young man! This must be the young man Lily is always mentioning." the old lady gave Lily a small pat between his ears at his name.

"Oh, uh, Friza, this isn't a date!" Levy corrected quickly, her face slowly turning beet red. Gajeel's face was a similar shade of red at the mention of a date. Lily simply chuckled deeply.

"We're planning for a job we signed up for this afternoon. There's so much to plan I wanted to make sure we had enough time to get it all taken care of. But I simply couldn't miss a meal here tonight, so I suggested we do our planning over dinner. What's your special tonight?" Levy frantically tried to keep the older woman from thinking this was date. Lily took the embarrassment of the two as an opportunity to fly to the bar and land softly next to Mr. Thompson.

"Oh tonight we have lemon chicken served with wild rice soup and the usual choice of side dishes."

"I'll have that. Gajeel? Do you know what you'll have?" Levy glanced over at him in time to see what was left of his light flush from the earlier conversation.

"Uh, same I guess." he answered in his typical detached manner.

"Oh, adorable." Friza fussed. "Your usual sides as well Levy-chan?"

"Yes, please."

"And you, young man?"

"I'll just take what the Shrimp's havin'." The statement was accompanied by a slight grunt and a crossing of arms to complete the look of indifference.

"Very well. Levy, dear, your tea will be right out."

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><p>Levy glanced around the train station which was alive with the typical morning commuters and merchandising stands. Her eyes fell on one of Max's newly re-opened booths, which was overflowing with Fairy Tail paraphernalia. She smiled as she caught a glimpse of the "Kurogane Gajeel" action figure- the likes of which held the current affections of a tiny fan in a bright blue jacket. His mother tried in vain to pry her son from the figurine until suddenly, the Iron Dragon Slayer himself appeared at the stand.<p>

Looking down at the kid Gajeel gently prodded him to acquiesce to his mother's request. Big brown eyes couldn't look away from the large, black maned man of steel. Gajeel looked down at the frozen and unspeaking little boy questionably, then turned to the kid's mother only to find her in a similar state. The Dragon Slayer sighed and scratched the back of his neck as he looked away.

"_Aaaand...they're terrified. Great. Makarov suggested that I tone things down a bit to get the whole guild back on the good side of the pu..."_

"You-you're Black Steel Gajeel!" the young boy chirped at last. "You're so cool! The way you were in the Grand Magic Games back then and how you came back from being disappeared for so many years like out of no where and you're part of Fairy Tail which is the coolest ever! Can you teach me Dragon Slayer magic too?! My name's Kenny and I'm five and I have magic too see..." the boy, Kenny, continued to ramble and show Gajeel his tiny magic abilities. As the boy continued to prattle on his mother returned from her initial surprise of meeting the legendary Dragon Slayer. She shot Gajeel an apologetical look, only to find the large man staring at them in awe.

"Kenny, I think that's enough for now. Let's let Mr. Redfox go about his business."

Kenny looked from his mother back to Gajeel. "Are you busy Mr. Gajeel? Are you on a mission? Can I go too? And mum?"

"I-I-I-uh..." Gajeel began, but was unable to properly formulate his thoughts.

By this time Levy had walked over to aid the baffled iron mage in his escape from his tiny fan.

"I think what Mr. Gajeel is trying to say is-"

"Thanks kid." Gajeel finally breathed out, cutting Levy off unintentionally. His eyes were still filled with confusion, but the confusion was blended with happiness. Coming completely out of his frazzled state and back into the real world, Gajeel reached over and handed Kenny one of the figurines from Max's collection.

"Here kid, be careful with it. Once yer old enough stop by Fairy Tail and tell 'em ta find me. I'll put in a good word for ya with the master, if ya wanna join."

The big brown eyes grew larger as the young boy accepted the gift.

"But fer now ya gotta listen ta yer ma, so do as she says. Oh, and read a lot of books so ya get good and smart too, 'kay?" Kenny nodded his head seriously and took his mother's waiting hand. "Good. Now I'm going to uh, go, and uh, help people now, I guess. See ya 'round kid." Gajeel raised a hand over his shoulder in farewell as he walked toward the train that he and Levy were scheduled to depart with.

"You're pretty good with kids." Levy mentioned form beside him.

"Yeah. I don't want any of 'em to wind up down the same path as me." he revealed to the bluenette. She nodded her head in understanding.

"Do you always tell them to read a lot of books?" Levy inquired.

"Y-yeah." he admitted.

"Why?"

"So they get smart."

"So you said, but why books?"

"'Cause."

"'Cause why?"

"Dammit Shrimp, 'cause you read an awful lot of books and yer the smartest damn mage I know- so I tell 'em to read more books so they can be more like you!" Gajeel rushed the last few words, as if he were embarrassed to say them. He then mumbled, "The world could use a few more bookworms if ya know what I mean."

Levy was slightly taken aback by his compliment of her kind. "Oh, well, thank you, Gajeel. I'm glad you think that way. But don't knock yourself down too much, the world could use a few more people who care enough about kids to spend time encouraging them like you just did too."

"Yeah, yeah." Gajeel ears began to pink slightly at her praise.

The two mages finally approached the train where Pantherlily and Wendy stood waiting for them.

"Why's the kid here?" Gajeel asked.

Levy realized that she had completely forgotten to tell him about Wendy's offer. "Oh, after our appointment yesterday I mentioned to Wendy that we were going to be taking a train to our job site, and she volunteered to stop by and cast Troia on you for the first leg of the trip! Isn't she thoughtful?"

Gajeel looked down at his fellow Dragon Slayer with a genuine smile. He couldn't help it, the kids was just too good to him. Before he began to ooze happiness and butterflies Gajeel remembered that he had a, as Elfman would put it, "manly" reputation to uphold. That being said, he returned to his signature smirk and looked down at the sweet little Sky Dragon and said, "Whatcha waitin' for hatchling? I've got a train to catch."


	8. Chapter 7: Knowing

**A/N: Shout out the GlitterSpires for being my wonderful BETA, and for everyone who submitted all of the reviews this week! There were so many and it made me so happy! Please continue your reviews and enjoy :)**

**Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail. **

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><p>Natsu tried to rush the villain, but with a short flash he disappeared, and Levy with him. A rumble from the ground caused Natsu to stumble and fall as a shower of stone rained down upon him. "Ga-jeel..." the Fire Dragon Slayer whispered. His fellow Dragon's mate had been taken; Gajeel was her only hope now.<p>

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><p>Gajeel winced as the train screeched at its own departure. Dragon senses weren't always a gift.<p>

Pantherlily climbed up the Dragon Slayer's arm and claimed one of his favorite traveling spots- curled around Gajeel's neck and snuggled into his hair. The Iron Dragon thought nothing of it, but Levy smiled at how adorable the bond between the two was.

The Script Mage pulled a book from her red travel bag and made herself comfortable against the window at one end of the bench she had claimed. Reading was a splendid way to spend travel time, immersed in the words of ancient cultures and distant lands. Given that they were heading to the mountainous west, Levy had chosen to bring along several of her books on the languages of "mountain dwelling folk" and her western historical languages and history collection.

As she stared quietly and contentedly at the open book in front of her, Gajeel shifted in his seat. His cat was asleep and his other partner was reading (yet another) freaking book. The kid had been thoughtful enough to give him the blessed gift of troia before leaving the station, and now he had no way of enjoying the freedom from the curse of motion sickness. He groaned and sighed and moved with impatience and absolute boredom. After a time, Lily became tired of the Slayer's antsy behavior and crawled out from his cozy nest in Gajeel's hair and plopped himself into Levy's open lap. The bluenette absently began to pet the silky black fur of the Exceed as she continued to read.

Gajeel let out one final and fed-up growl before addressing the small woman sitting across from him.

"Hey, Shrimp?"

"Yes, Gajeel?" She replied, not bothering to look up from the page.

"Whatcha readin'?"

She held the book up so he could read the title for himself.

"Intermediate guide to ancient mountain dweller's syntax," he read aloud in his deep, gravelly voice.

Hearing such advanced sounding words come from Gajeel's mouth caused her to look up from her book in surprise.

"What?" he asked as she gave him a curious look.

"N-nothing," Levy shook her head and paused to find the right words to say. "Its just that I've never really heard you say anything so, fancy, like that before." Her voice was uncertain at her choice of adjective, but it seemed to her a way in which he might have described it.

Gajeel raised a pierced eyebrow at her words.

"I mean, I knew you weren't unintelligent or anything, but I had no idea you were, well, um, somewhat educated?"

"Gihi," he chuckled. "That's my little secret. My old man was a stickler fer education. Couldn't practice the good stuff like fighting until lessons were completed to his standards. You know how good of a fighter I am right, well I've got an education to match. Metalicana used to say that a good warrior needed balance. Brawn without brains could cause more trouble than its worth. I lost sight of that for a while, after he disappeared. But then I ran into that moron Salamander and was reminded o' what the old fart had said."

Levy laughed as thought of her pink haired friend and guild mate. His destructive power was immense, but he didn't always think before he used it, causing the master stacks of paperwork and complaints from his higher-ups. "That's true enough!" she agreed, then asked, "So what did you study?" as she closed her book to engage him in conversation.

"Reading, writing, arithmetic, anthropology, philosophy, history, strategy, and a bunch o' other stuff."

The overly pierced and endearingly broody man sitting across from her was becoming more attractive by the minute. Levy had to try and keep her blush in check as she forced herself not to ask him to repeat the words, "arithmetic, anthropology, and philosophy."

"Wow," she breathed. "That's, unexpected honestly."

"Like I said, it's my little secret." He said with a dangerous wink. Then he turned serious as he said, "But you can't tell anyone. It'll ruin my reputation I've worked really hard to keep up. Don't need people thinkin' I'm some brainy smart guy."

"But why not? Can you imagine how bad-ass it would be if one of Fairy Tail's strongest mages turned out to be crazy well-educated to boot?!" Levy asked excitedly. "That's twice as intimidating as strength alone! Not to mention attrac-" Levy stopped and tried to correct herself.

"A-a, a track record like that could really improve Fairy Tail's standing with the council!" she finished in a slight panic, her ears burning red. Gajeel's dragon sense had picked up on her elevated heart rate and panicky voice. _"Damn,"_ he thought to himself, _"I just gave her something else to be afraid of me for. That's why it needed to be kept a secret…"_

"That's really amazing, you know?" she said suddenly. "We have something in common to talk about now." The little blue-haired woman couldn't stop her smile. Her pulse had begun to return to normal and the panic was gone from her voice. She was being serious and honest with him.

"Yeah, I suppose," he sighed with slight amusement. How many times would she have to remind him that the past was in the past? The Shrimp hadn't been afraid of him in years, and she had given him that ridiculous line about forgiveness more times than he could count. But his past actions still haunted him and her smile was the only thing that could reassure him.

"So, uh, who taught you how to read?" The Dragon Slayer asked.

"My dad," her eyes crinkled up fondly. "He had a love for books that vastly outweighed my own. I'm pretty sure I come by my obsession honestly."

She looked down to the book in her hands. His name was etched on the leather cover. She bit her lip as she traced the "M" in McGarden. "He died when I was five."

Gajeel looked at her in surprise. "Five?"

"Yeah."

"You learned to read before you were five?"

"I was reading Dick and Jane was I was three. By the time I was five I was getting into the young adult novels," she laughed as his mouth fell open.

"I was seven before I properly learned the alphabet!" He whistled low in amazement. "How about yer ma? She like books too?"

Levy's face fell and she didn't reply right away. She turned to the window and watched as the changing colors of the deciduous trees whizzed by.

"I don't know." She said after a while. "I was dumped in some ancient burial ground shortly after I was born. Luckily my dad and his team had been working around the site and heard me crying. He adopted me immediately. Dad wasn't married, so I never really had a mom." She explained quietly.

"Oh," was all he could manage as he processed what he had just heard. Who the hell would throw something so sweet and amazing out to die? What kind of a parent could abandon their offspring willingly like that? His anger was rising, but so was his confusion. Even though so much bad had happened in the Shrimp's life, she was still gentle, and generous, and smart as hell. How did she do that?

"Master Makarov was an old friend of my dad's, and he took me in when dad died. Shortly thereafter we discovered my magic." He face picked up its usual smile again at the thought. "I think my magic took the form of words in memory of and with gratitude for my dad. It's precious to me."

Those last three words echoed in Gajeel's mind as thoughts of their first meeting came flooding into his mind. He had mocked that precious magic then; he had called it weak and useless. Of course back then he'd had no idea just how powerful she could be. She'd grown up during the time in which he had known her. She was S-class material after all.

"You and yer magic do his memory well, Shortstuff." He leaned over to ruffle her blue hair fondly.

"Hey!" she giggled as she smacked his hand away playfully. "Well, enough about me, what else is there that I should know about you?"

Gajeel thought about it for a minute. "I hate raisins," was his simple reply.

"Really? Me too. There's just something, unsettling, about them. Although I've heard that they're supposed to be good for preventing plaque on your teeth."

"Weird. Yer turn Bookworm." He was taking turns using each of his nicknames for her. He had plenty to cycle through.

"Ummmm, I'm fluent in three dead languages and I have decent knowledge of around eighteen others. What about you?"

"Draconic is 'bout it fer me. Learned it and common in my studies," Gajeel saw Levy's face light up at the mention of the Dragon's native tongue. "Maybe I'll teach ya some Dragon speak later."

Levy began keeping a mental list of all of Gajeel's attractive qualities. Speaking Draconic was pretty high up there, and offering to teach her some of the carefully guarded language sent her up on cloud nine.

"Ok, Shrimpy, why'd you decide to make a team with tweedle dee and tweedle dufus?"

"Their names are Jet and Droy, Gajeel, and they've been my best friends since I came to Fairy Tail."

"Juvia and I've been friends for a while too but we aint makin' no team, so that doesn't really answer my question."

Darn, he had found a small flaw in her logic. Few people remembered the real reason Levy had joined team Shadowgear, and that was just how she liked it. However, Gajeel had revealed one his secrets to her earlier, so she felt compelled to tell him one of hers.

Not looking him in the eye she said, "Jet and Droy said they needed a mascot for their new team…"

"What?!" The Dragon Slayer began to guffaw at the ridiculousness of that statement.

"They wanted a mascot? Gihihi!" he held his stomach as the laughter erupted. "And you actually agreed? Gihi! Not only that…but you wind up being the most competent member and leader-figure of the whole damn team! It's too good! Gihi, and they said mascot."

"Yeah," she admitted. "Though the boys have really improved since the S-class trials."

"Whatever you say, Midget. Yer still probably better than both of 'em combined." Thankfully the red of his face left over from his laughing fit hid that blush that inevitably came as he praised her.

"What about you? Why haven't you joined up with a team yet? Your lone-wolf project with Raven Tail is over- you could add a few more faces to your dynamic duo and probably have the most powerful team in Fairy Tail."

"Lil and I do just fine on our own, and I prefer it that way. I don't really need to work 'bout Lil on jobs and we get along pretty good. Plus, I don't trust a lot people the way I trust Lily. He's always there when I really need 'em so… yeah." He finished lamely. Why was he gushing about his cat? The damned cat caused him plenty of problems, not to mention he had a strange taste in foods, but nevertheless Lily was undoubtedly Gajeel's closest friend.

Levy looked at the Dragon Slayer sitting across from her with new eyes. She had known him for a few years now, but she had never really _known_ him. Their conversation continued for a while as they exchanged personality traits and quirks, likes and dislikes. Lily continued to sleep soundly on Levy's warm lap.

"Okay, most embarrassing moment," Levy challenged Gajeel.

"Ugh, uh, uhem…"Gajeel struggled. "There was this one time, when I was…. Shit." His large hand came up to his mouth as his face began to turn a violent shade of green. The troia had worn off. It was a quick and bitter end to the enjoyable ride thus far as Gajeel curled in on himself on the bench where he sat. His free hand came across to his stomach as sweat appeared on his forehead.

It had all happened so quickly that a first Levy had no idea what was going on. She quickly put two and two together though and gently removed Lily from her lap. She moved over to the bench where Gajeel was nursing his misery and lifted his head up enough to set it in her lap. She leaned over him to grab her book from the other bench, her closeness affecting him even in his wretched state.

Levy then began to stoke the long black locks of hair as she had done with Lily earlier, one hand petting his head, the other holding the open book. As Gajeel breathed in her unique scent once again, and focused his attention to the feel of her touch, he was calmed. The nausea seemed a price worth paying to be in this situation. He found himself falling gently asleep the rhythmic smoothing of his hair.

Lily found himself missing the warmth of another body and so he moved from his lonely spot on the opposite bench and curled up against the Dragon Slayer's stomach. Something he often did when they were required to use transportation. It seemed to help ease the unsettling feeling in the large man's midsection. As he curled into a comfortable position he grinned to himself. Mira would be pleased at the day's happenings. With that thought the small Exceed drifted off once again.

Levy smiled secretly as she stole a glance at her companions. Her future was certainly turning out just the way she'd hoped- with the large, brooding Dragon Slayer and his little black cat sleeping contentedly in her lap.


End file.
